Hospital/Medical Vending Machines Market Overview
The global hospital/medical vending machines market is predicted to undergo tremendous growth in the coming years, mainly on account of growing requirement of healthy food and drinks options in healthcare settings and rising need for medicine dispensers at public places. With increasing awareness about healthy eating habits, the healthier food options in places like hospitals are increasing. Moreover, with the rising preference for non-sugar sweetened beverages, the demand for these products is further expected to grow in the coming years.
The hospital/medical vending machines market is being characterized by the adoption of advanced technologies, paving way for liquid crystal display (LCD) touchscreens, and machines incorporated with digital payments options. In various healthcare settings like hospitals, where environment is mostly stressful, the vending machines may create a non-stressful environment by taking care of people’s health and finance.
The hospital/medical vending machines market is categorized into drinks vending, mixed snacks vending, and medicines vending machines, on the basis of type. The drink vending machines provide beverages or water bottles to consumers. Mixed snacks vending machines dispense a wide array of snacks and fast foods to hospital visitors and staffs. The medicine vending machines at some places provide medicines after feeding the list of requirements, but there are also other medicine vending machines, which can scan the prescription through bar code and provide the required medicines. The later one is mostly applicable for chronic disease prescription, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
On the basis of advancement, the hospital/medical vending machines market is bifurcated into traditional and smart vending machines. With the increase in technological innovations, people tend to demand for technologically better alternatives. Therefore, the demand for smart vending machines will increase in the coming years, which tend to rule the market.
North America holds the largest share in the global hospital/medical vending machines market, since the region is more particular in terms of acceptance of hygiene and technology trends. For instance, many vending machines in the region have been transformed from traditional into smart type. The market in regions other than North America is also expected to grow considerably in the coming years, owing to increasing healthcare reforms, growing healthcare spending, and technological advancements.
Hospital/Medical Vending Machines Market Dynamics
Growth drivers and restraints
With the technological advancements and increasing utilization of Internet of Things (IOT) in healthcare, the dependence on connected devices increases, which in turn, acts as a driver for the growth of the hospital/medical vending machines market. Various market players have launched vending machines that can be connected to mobile devices, providing enhanced menu choices to customers. The availability of machines equipped with digital payment facility is also a key driver for this market. For instance, machines with energy saving features is another technological advancement, which can create more demand for vending machines.
With the increasing technological advancements in these products, the presence of smart vending machines instead of traditional vending machines is increasing in the hospital/medical vending machines market, since these advanced products tend to be more convenient and time saving.
Furthermore, various countries are investing in this growing market. For instance, the Indian Government invested in procuring hospital/medical vending machines to reduce waiting time and out-of-pocket expenditure of patients. Players in the country launched several drug vending machines in government hospitals for chronic diseases like blood pressure and diabetes. The machines are programmed to read barcoded prescriptions of patients to provide drugs accordingly.
High capital investment and high maintenance cost are some of the factors that would impede the growth of the hospital/medical vending machines industry in the coming years.
Hospital/Medical Vending Machines Market Competitive Landscape
Crane Merchandising Systems, Fuji Electric Co. Ltd., Azokoyen Group, Hitachi Ltd., Fujitsu Limited, Honeywell International Inc., VENDture LLC, Modern Vending Service Co., Atlanta Vending Inc., and Connect Vending Ltd. are some of the key players in the hospital/medical vending machines market. Various technological advancements are taking place in the hospital/medical vending machines industry, across the globe. For instance, Crane Merchandising Systems, in 2017, added remote services to their existing product VendMax. The advancement would make it possible to send planograms along with nutritional information over the air.
The study provides the historical as well the forecast market size data for various countries including the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., Italy, Spain, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa.
